Vigil: Feb. 22, 2012

In Next Act Theatre's production of a Morris Panych's deeply human 1995 comedy <i>Vigil</i>, which runs through Feb. 26, Mark Ulrich stars as a bank clerk waiting for his elderly aunt to die. When he comes to her side, he announces that he'd like her to go ahead and get it over with so he can collect his inheritance. Death is seldom cooperative in such circumstances, and neither is the aunt, played by Milwaukee icon Ruth Schudson. Death may not be a comfortable subject matter, but comedy can help to bring a serious topic into sharp focus.